SLIDESHOW: Regeneron spreads Christmas cheer in Limerick school

Students at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Janesboro, are delighted as they received Christmas presents from staff at Regeneron Pictures: Adrian Butler

THERE was a real sense of a festive spirit in a southside Limerick school as students received their just reward for all their charity work.

Our Lady Queen of Peace, Janesboro teamed up with Raheen biopharmaceutical firm Regeneron to give presents to the children in recognition of the thousands of euro they have raised in recent weeks for local good causes.

In the weeks running up to Christmas, children in the school have raised over €4,000 for local good causes.

They sang Christmas carols in the Crescent Shopping Centre twice, raising €1,800 for Adapt House and €1,200 for the training fund for the Guide Dogs for people with autism respectively.

On top of this, a Christmas concert last Monday raised some €560 for homelessness charity Novas, and carol singing at the Roxboro Shopping Centre saw vital funds raised for the re-painting of the church at Our Lady Queen of Peace.

School principal Michael Ryan said: “We have helped the children to learn a valuable lesson, that Christmas is not just about giving, but about receiving as well. Our children have worked hard to ensure other groups in society who are less well-off, that we would make a difference in their lives at Christmas.”

He said both Regeneron and the school saw the present-giving not just as a reward for all the hard work of the students through the term, but also the effort they have made to ensure others are well-looked after at Christmas.​

As well as raising money for charity, the sixth class in the school, as part of their preparation for Confirmation also held a Christmas party for grandparents and the elderly on the southside.

Some 90 senior citizens came to the event, principal Michael said.

One of Limerick’s major employers with up to 850 people to be employed by the end of 2018, Regeneron staff each year pick a local school to give out gifts to.

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